WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary men's tennis team embarks on a four-match road swing to begin the month of February, starting in the Hoosier State this weekend. The Tribe renews its rivalry with Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in South Bend, Ind., before traveling to meet reigning Horizon League Champion Valparaiso on Sunday at noon.
 
Scouting the Tribe
The Tribe enters the weekend on a three-match winning streak and at 3-1 on the year. After opening the campaign by winning two of three on its Northeast road trip, W&M kicked off the home slate with a 6-1 win over Navy last weekend. The Tribe swept doubles against the Midshipmen, including the clinching victory at No. 3 from junior Christian Cargill and sophomore Michael Ruamthong. In singles competition, the Green and Gold won the top five posts, including the top four in straight sets. Seniors Aidan Talcott and Addison Appleby won convincingly at the top two positions, while juniors Alec Miller and Lars de Boer won at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Senior Damon Niquet rounded out the win with a three-set triumph at No. 5. Thanks to three-straight wins at No. 1, Talcott was named the CAA Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Wednesday. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the ITA Atlantic Region for singles and No. 72 nationally. Appleby and Niquet are both 3-1 in dual-match singles play for W&M, while Talcott and junior Ryan Newman are 3-1 at the top doubles post.
 
Scouting Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish, who finished last season at 15-14 and ranked No. 42 nationally, enter the weekend at 2-2 on the year. Notre Dame split a pair of matches at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in North Carolina. They fell to No. 7 UNC, 4-0, before topping Penn State, 4-1. After opening the year with a 7-0 win over Ball State, UND dropped a 5-2 decision on the road at No. 15 Kentucky. The Irish earned votes in the ITA National Top 25 this week for the first time in 2017. Notre Dame's lineup features a pair of nationally-ranked singles players in No. 27 Josh Hagar and No. 119 Alex Lebedev. Hagar is 10-6 on the year with two wins over nationally-ranked foes, while Lebedev leads Notre Dame with a 13-7 singles mark, including a 2-1 ledger at No. 3 singles. Eddy Covalschi and Hagar comprise the Irish's top doubles team, which is ranked No. 10 nationally. The tandem is 13-4 overall, 5-1 vs. ranked teams and 3-1 at No. 1. Overall, Notre Dame has claimed the doubles point in three of its four matches and is 10-3 combined in pairs play.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish have won the last six meetings between the programs and leads the series at 13-2. They met for 10-straight seasons between 2005-14. The Green and Gold's most recent win in the series came in 2008 when W&M upset No. 34-ranked Notre Dame, 4-3, in South Bend. UND won the most recent meeting, 7-0, in Indiana during the 2014 season.
 
Scouting Valparaiso
Valpo is 2-1 on the year following a 7-0 win over Butler on Friday. The Crusaders opened the season with a 7-0 win over Toledo, before dropping a close 4-3 decision at Big Ten foe Wisconsin. Last season, Valparaiso won the program's first Horizon League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament on the way to a 22-6 record. In the setback to the Badgers, Valpo received a trio of singles wins from Jeffrey Schorsch (No. 1), Chad Kissell (No. 2) and Charlie Emhardt (No. 5). Kissell, who was 27-9 last year, is currently ranked No. 95 nationally in singles and owns a 10-3 ledger this season. Schorsch is the two-time defending Horizon League Player of the Year. He is the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week and sits at 9-5 overall and 3-0 at No. 1 on the season. Schorsch and Emhardt comprise the No. 17-ranked doubles team in the country. The pair advanced to the ITA National Indoor Championship final during the fall season. They are 12-5 overall and won Horizon League Team of the Week honors last week.
 
Series History: W&M vs. Valparaiso
The Tribe and Crusaders meet for the second-straight season. Last year, W&M defeated Valpo, 6-1, in Williamsburg. The Tribe won at the top two doubles posts, before receiving singles wins from Addison Appleby (No. 2), Alec Miller (No. 3), Lars de Boer (No. 4), Aidan Talcott (No. 5) and Damon Niquet (No. 6) to dispatch of the Crusaders.